Rose Mandungu dreamed of renting a houseboat on an Amsterdam canal when she started university. The only place she could find was a converted shipping container. ``I'm looking for a better place,'' said the criminology student, who last year moved into one of 380 steel boxes stacked around a shipyard crawling with rats and cockroaches. Mandungu, 20, probably won't be able to leave Amsterdam's first container village anytime soon. Close to 150 home seekers chase every 100 houses offered for rent, according to the Dutch Housing Ministry. Struggling to cope with demand for housing, Amsterdam is moving students and welfare recipients into shipping containers and turning cruise ships into dormitories. The city's latest ploy -- converting empty offices into apartments -- may fail as developers balk at expensive remodeling amid rent controls that will limit their returns. ``We have our hands full trying to address the housing problem,'' ... http://www.bloomberg.com

A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan. Some residents who have complained have children serving in Iraq, said Bob Kearns, president of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association in Pagosa Springs. He said some residents have also believed it was a symbol of Satan. Three or four residents complained, he said. "Somebody could put up signs that say drop bombs on Iraq. If you let one go up you have to let them all go up," he said in a telephone interview Sunday. Lisa Jensen said she wasn't thinking of the war when she hung the wreath. She said, "Peace is way bigger than not being at war. This is a spiritual thing." ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2680790

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday he would help the United States calm Iraq if Washington changes what he described as its “bullying” policy toward Iran. But the Islamic Republic denied reports that it was trying to organize a summit bringing together Ahmadinejad and the leaders of Iraq and Syria. The reports of a meeting came as the Bush administration is under increased pressure at home to approach Iran and Syria for help in Iraq. Such a measure is believed to be one of the recommendations by a panel on Iraq led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III. “We are ready to help you, Ahmadinejad declared while addressing a group of members of the Basij paramilitary group, affiliated with the elite Revolutionary Guard. Ahmadinejad said the U.S. and Britain are paying for the instability and violence in Iraq. “You have been trapped in a quagmire and locked in your place with nowhere to go.” ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15907666/

Police have begun a murder inquiry after five members of one family were shot dead on a hunting trip in Greece. The bodies of the five young men - two brothers and three cousins - were found in woodland in the Kalyvia region about 280km (175 miles) north-west of Athens. One victim had tried to raise the alarm by phoning his father but the call was cut off, police said. The father began searching and found the bodies. Police said the men, aged 17 to 33, had each been shot at least twice. No motive for the killings has yet been established. Police have set up roadblocks all the way to the Albanian border, some 200km (125 miles) to the north. The five men had set off on Saturday afternoon for a local hunting trip. Late that evening, they were discovered lying next to their shotguns in a field near the town of Agrinio. Reports suggest each was picked off at some distance by a marksman using a hunting rifle, before being shot again at close range...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6186316.stm

Bahrain's Shia Muslim opposition has won at least 40% of the vote in elections which saw women and liberal candidates fare poorly. The results will give a greater say to majority Shias in the Gulf state, where there have long been tensions between them and the ruling Sunnis. It is only the second time people have been able to vote for national MPs. No group got enough votes for an outright majority, and there will be run-offs for several crucial seats. But so far, the main Shia opposition group, Al Wefaq, has taken 16 of the 17 seats the group was contesting. The group's leader was circumspect about the results. "Our participation is limited," Sheikh Ali Salman told Reuters news agency. "It's a positive step but let's put this participation in perspective. There are 40 people appointed by the king with the same legislative powers." ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6186002.stm

The incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is promising an array of oversight investigations that could provoke sharp disagreement with Republicans and the White House. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., pledged that Democrats, swept to power in the Nov. 7 elections, would govern “in the middle” next year. But the veteran lawmaker has a reputation as one who has never avoided a fight and he did not back away from that reputation on Sunday. Among the investigations he said he wants the committee to undertake: The new Medicare drug benefit. “There are lots and lots and lots of scandals,” he said, without citing specifics. Spending on government contractors in Iraq, including Halliburton Co., the Texas-based oil services conglomerate once led by Vice President Dick Cheney. An energy task force overseen by Cheney. It “was carefully cooked to provide only participation by oil companies and energy companies,” Dingell said. Notice no War Crimes Investigations. ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11442715/